Locomotive-fire-box structure



LE GRAND PARISH LDCOMOTIVE FIRE BOX STRUCTURE Nov. 10 1925. 1,560,604

,Flled March 14'. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1,

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Nov. 10, 1925- 1,560,604

LE GRAND PARISH I LOCOMOTIVE FIRE BOX STRUCTURE Filed March 14, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 U v ii M WIIWESS .B m v ATTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 10, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LE GRAND PARISH, OF MOUNTAIN .VIEW, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN ARCH COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

LOCOMOTIVE-FIRE-BOX STRUCTURE.

Application filed March 14, 1921. Serial No. 452,182.

To all whom/it may concern:

Be it known that '1, Ln GRAND PARISH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mountain View, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locomotive-Fire-Box Structures, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is concerned with the fire boxes of locomotives burning oil. I aim to improve the efficiency of combustion, and

also the distribution of heat to the surfaces of the fire box. My invention comprises various novel features of construction and combination of parts, including an improved fire-arch and an improved form of refractory brick for such structures, and an improved arrangement of the various refractories in the box. I have herein illustrated and described a locomotive fire box equipped with the best form of my invention at present known to me.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a vertical section through the fire box, and fire pan of a locomotive embodying my invention,- only the main parts of the boiler fire box being shown.

Fig. 2 shows a cross-section at a plane indicated by the line 2-2 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a plan view of the refractory arch structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Figs. 4: and 5 are enlarged edge and side views, respectively, of one of the refractory bricks composing the arch. i

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the fire box 1 is in some respects of ordinary form and construction, with a door 2 at its rear end and a plurality of fire tubes or flues 3 and 4 extending forward from the flue sheet 5 at its front end. The upper rows of fines at are shown as of relatively large size, and thus adapted to contain steam superheater tubes (not shown). At the lower side of the mud-ring 6 is a metal plate that extends inward so as to form a shelf 7 all around the lower edge of the fire box 1. At the forward end and sides of the fire box, the shelf 7 is covered with a protective refractory flooring 8 of fire-brick, and at the sides a low protective refractory wall 9 of tongued and grooved fire-brick is built up on the flooring 8, against the side sheets, a short distance above the mud-ring 6. From the inner edge of the metal shelf 7. depends a fire-brick lined metal fire-pan 10, with sloping sides and upright front and rear ends. The refractory lining at the rear end of the fire-pan 10 is extended straight. upward as a flash wall 11 (greatly thickened) to the level of the fire box door 2,-its rear portion resting on the shelf 7. One or more burners 12 at the forward end of the fire box serve as a means for intro ducing the blast of fuel or fuel and air,- additional air being drawn in around the burner or burners 12 through one or more suitable openings 13 in thefront refractory wall of the fire pan 10. Thus the combustion blast is directed more or less nearly horizontally into and across the fire pan.

Across the forward portion of the trough of the fire pan 10 is a refractory structure 15 which (in respect of both its function and its form as shown in the drawing) may be termed a fire-arch. As shown, it is built with its ends resting on the inclined tops of the refractory side linings of the pan as piers and against the sloping pan sldes themselves as abutments. A small portion of the arch 15 at the burner end is of solid construction; the rest is pierced or perforated with a multiplicity of holes 16 (see Fig. 3) which afford passages for the gases. These passages improve the com bustion and render it more complete, and also promote absorptionof heat by the arch 15; while the arch itself battles the gases, and also radiates heat absorbed from the gases to the surfaces of the fire box. This absorption and radiation of. heat helps to equalize the distribution of heat as amongst different portions of the fire box surfaces, and thus tends to prevent local overheating thereof at any point.

The combustion blast from the burner 12, therefore, makes a rearward pass through the fire-pan 10 beneath the arch 15, strikes the flash-wall 11 and rises into the water fire box, and then returns forward (with diminished velocity, owing to the greater cross-section) through the combustion space in the fire box to the fiues 3 and 4a. The changes of direction at and above the flashwall 11 cause more thorough intermixture of the air and the fuel, and'the lower velocity in the fire box affords good opportunity for combustion. The passages 16 in the heater arch 15 tendto create eross-currents and eddies in the combustion stream beneath and so promote thorough intermixture of its components; also, the passages themselves tend to cause intimate intermixture and more thorough combustion in the gases passing through them, as well as in those beneath the arch. The heated foraminous arch l5 acts like a checker-work to promote so-called surface combustion of the gases; and the jets of hot gas issuing from the holes 16 produce eddies in the gases above the arch and so cause more thorough intern'iixture of their components and more complete combustion in the fire box.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 1 and 5, it will be seen that the arch 15 is composed of complementary, reciprocally leaning, curved, relatively thick refractory bricks 20, vertically grooved at 21 and 22 to pro vide the arch perforations 16. As shown, each brick 20 extends from the spring to the crown of the arch, its outer, lower ends having appropriately inclined edges 23, 24 and 25 for meeting the pan wall and lining and the edge of the shelf covering 8. The abutting ends of the bricks 20 at the crown of the arch are likewise appropriately angled, and are interlocked by means of male and female engagement elements 26, 27 arranged in sets located adjacent the upper and lower corners of each brick, this location of the duplicate sets preventing disengagement of the bricks and serving to hold them in place in case a brick cracks longitudinally, either from endto end or from its-abutting'end diagonally to its upper or lower edge. As shown in Figs. 3, at and 5, each set of e11- gagement elements on each brick .20 consists of a half-round rib or tongue 26 extending half way across the end of the brick and a corresponding half round recess 27 extending the rest of the way across,the corresponding ends 28 of the. tongue and recess sloping slightly. This provision of male and female engagement means enables the arch to be built of a single form of brick, each brick on one side of the arch interlocking properly with a like brick on the other side, arranged in reverserelation.

The solid portion of the arch may be built up of bricks 30 similar to the bricks 20, but without the lateral grooves or recesses 21 and 22.

It will be noted that the width of the grooves 21 is approximately uniform from the upper to the lower faces of the bricks, while the width of the grooves 22 is greatest at the top and narrows toward the bottom. The ribs 21 between the two grooves are substantially vertical while the ribs 22'' incline toward the corresponding side sheet. As a result of the foregoing and the crown shape of the arch, it will be seen that ap proximately vertical jets or streams of gases will be delivered from the openings 16 formed by the grooves 21, while the jets or streams delivered by the openings formed by the grooves 22 will flare from the vertical angularly toward the side sheets, thus setting up an eddy in the corner portions a along the arch flanks formed by the side sheets and shelf 7. There will thus be no relatively dead areas. At the same time, the arrangement insures that the gases passing forwardly over the arch toward theflue sheet shall be churned or mixed across the width of the box. It will further be notedthat the openings 16 are of relatively great length giving increased surface combustion faces, which results in a raising of the temperature of the arch and thus tends to secure still more perfect combustion.

It will also be observed that the arrangement of the various refractory elements, while very simple, is such that all of the parts are securely maintained in place. Thus, the refractory brick lining for the floor of the pan is held in place by the tongued and dovetailed bricks lining the sides of the pan, and the latter, in serving to support part of the load of the arch, are held in place by the arch, which also serves to position the bricks 8 which are weighted down and heldby the tongued and dovetailed bricks 9.

I claim:

1. In a locomotive fire box having a pan, a lining for the bottom of the pan, side linings for the pan resting upon and securing the bottom lining, an arch rest-ing upon the side linings, and fire box floor linings positioned by the ends of the arch.

2. In a locomotive fire box having a pan, a lining for the bottom of the pan, side linings for the pan resting upon and securing the bottom lining, an arch resting upon the side linings, and fire box floor linings positioned by .the ends of the arch, together with fire box side linings resting on the fire box floor linings.

3. In a locomotive fire box having a pan, with slopin side walls, bricks lining the pan floor, interlocking bricks lining the sides of the pan, an arch resting upon said side bricks and also having its ends abutting sides of the pan, bricks lining the fire box floor abutting the arch on the one side and a side sheet on the other, and interlocking bricks lining the side sheets and resting on the floor bricks.

4. In a locomotive fire box having side sheets and a pan, the combination of an arch across said pan substantially of crown shape and having a plurality of openings therethrough adapted to create flaring streams or jets near the sheets of the box.

5. The combination with a locomotive fire box and a narrower fire pan at its bottom, and means for introducing a fuel stream at one end. of the pan, of a refractory arch across the pan serving to baffle the combustion stream and to radiate heat absorbed from the gases to the heating surfaces of the fire box, said arch having openings therethrough toward the side sheets of the fire box to deliver gases from beneath the arch into the corner spaces along its flanks.

6. The combination with a locomotive fire box and pan, of a perforated arch across the latter comprising complementary refractory bricks with grooves across their vertical faces tapering in Width.

7. The combination with a locomotive fire box and pan, of a perforated arch across the latter comprising complementary, reciprocally leaning refractory bricks each having on one end male and female engagement means interlocked with like engagement means on the abutting end of a like brick, and having a groove across a vertical face to afford the arch perforations.

8. The combination with a locomotive fire box and pan, of a perforated arch across the latter comprising complementary, reciprocally leaning refractory bricks with triple engaging surfaces at their remote ends, complementary interlock means at their interabutting ends, and grooves across their vertical faces.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

LE GRAND PARISH. 

